In preparation for— [2]

After reassuring everyone that came across us that I was not Glacia's father, I finally arrived at my destination: The Transfer Gate station.

Pretty quickly, I could spot Eran with all my baggage. 'Good, looks like he's still useful.' I made my way toward him and lightly kicked the back of his knee to get his attention.

"B-Boss! You're here! And your daughter too!"

"I'm not her f—"

"W-What?! Theodore, you have a daughter?!"

Hearing the familiar voice, I hissed, clenched my fists, and closed my eyes shut to calm my frustration down. Opening my eyes again, I glared at the one who provoked this kind of reaction out of me: Amelia.

"No, she's not m—"

"Theod— gasp! I-Is that your daughter?!" A familiar wolf-beastkin, Emily, poked her head out from a nearby pillar.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I'm not her father!" I shouted, attracting unwanted attention from everyone in the station.

Things only got worse when Glacia tugged my shirt while looking at me with those cute eyes of her.

"Daddy, daddy, why are you shouting a— mpffhhh!"

I covered her mouth, but it was too late as she managed to voice that accursed word out.

"For the last time, I'm not her—"

"Oh Theodore, you're here with your daughter?" Ria suddenly came up from behind me and chuckled.

"FUCK THIS!" I threw Glacia at Eran before storming off. However, I soon realized that I forgot to say something. Sharply turning around, I shouted, " AND DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HER!"

.

.

.

After calming down, I returned to the station, only to find Glacia being fawned over by Ria, Emily, and Amelia. Eran, meanwhile, was watching Glacia closely just as I ordered. However, that just made him look like a creep.

I approached them and coughed loudly to announce that I was back.

Ria briefly glanced at me before putting her hands under Glacia's armpits and lifting her up.

"Awww, getting to see your daughter almost makes being in your group worth it."

'Breathe in, breathe out, calm down now, I can't punch her in the face...just yet.'

Emily suddenly interjected. "Isn't it good being in Theodore's team, though? Considering his strength, I think that we'll complete the mission quickly..."

"Sure, Mr. Void slayer here is strong," Ria snorted. "But that's why the professors gave us a harder mission."

"Harder mission?" I tilted my head in confusion.

Ria looked at me in disbelief. "Please tell me that you did read what the mission is."

"Mmmm... I didn't. I couldn't care enough."

"Just great." Ria grumbled. Then, she took out her phone and shoved it in my face. "You got 5 seconds. Read."

===

Location: Ruran fortress.

Difficulty: C+

Description: Monsters have been attacking the border fortress of Ruran in abnormal numbers.

Clear condition(s): [Repel the attacks for a month] or [Confirm and eliminate the cause of the abnormal attacks].

Addendum: Since Ruran fortress shares a border with a Kingdom-owned fortress, students are to cancel the mission immediately and report back to school faculty should the Kingdom show any suspicious activity.

===

"You see what I'm saying now? Thanks to you, we have to do a mission that's normally given to the elites of the 3rd years."

I stroked my chin, ignoring Ria's words and focusing on the mission itself.

'There's no mention of this in the novel, and Adel didn't say anything either. That means this is just something minor.'

It was likely that a leader-type monster appeared and wanted to attack the fortress for some reason.

'Well, I'll take this as a vacation.'

Humming, I snatched Glacia from Ria's hand and asked, "So, where's this fortress supposed to be?"

"Seriously, you don't even know that?"

I shrugged.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Ria called out to Eran.

"Tell him, Wolf boy. It's your home turf after all."

'His... home turf?'

"Haha, you're right, Ria." Eran laughed. "It's in my mother's territory, so of course I know t—"

"Shit!" Even if Duchess Bytros didn't care about Eran, it would still be extremely awkward...or even dangerous to come across her. "W-What station will we go to?"

Ria, not noticing my nervousness, somehow, checked the map and said, "29th station. A bit over 300Km away from our destination."

'Thanks fucking God!'

The station was most likely nowhere close to the fief Capital since I remembered that it was at least 500Km away from the borders. With nothing to be afraid of anymore, I entered the Gate—

"Wait!" Ria stopped me before I could enter it.

"What?"

"Shouldn't we vote on a leader?"

"I'm the leader," I said with a matter-of-facty tone. "And I say that we go right now. The sooner we finish the mission, the better."

"Oh, come on! Where's the democracy?!"

"Funny thing for a Duke's daughter to say." Ignoring Ria's increasing hostility toward me, I turned toward Amelia, Emily, and Eran. "Do you think I should be the leader?"

Eran, of course, rasied his hand enthusastically. "Of course, boss!"

Similarly, Emily raised her hand. She was closer to me than she was to Ria after all. "I think so to."

Amelia, meanwhile, was more torn between the two options. However, as if she remembered what I did to Eran in the duel a few days ago, she shuddered and hurriedly raised her hand. "T-Theodore should be the leader!"

"There," I flashed Ria an irritating smile. "Four to one. Now, as the leader, I command you to carry everyone's baggage."

After all, we all entered the Gate...with a very irritated Phoenix carrying our heavy loads following behind.

.

.

.

The Station was in some sort of remote settlements far away from the fief Capital. It was too big to be a village, yet too small to be called a town. The people here called it "Firenat," though, offically, this place had no name.

Since it was nearly dusk by the time we got to the Station, I decided to find an inn to stay overnight.

'Withering tree inn... what an ominous name.'

Pulling up to the reception counter with Eran, Amelia, Emily, and Ria following behind me, I rang the bell and called for the innkeeper.

"I'd like 6 rooms. 1 Night."

The innkeeper eyed us before lowering her eyes. "6 rooms? Are you going to let that child sleep alone?"

She was obviously addressing Glacia, who was sitting on my arm.

Leaving Glacia alone?! I'd never! Like hell would I want her to smash everything while unsupervised, especially when I was most likely to be the one compensating for the damages!

"Of course not! The extra room is for the baggage. Our baggage girl will pay for it."

"Hey, I haven't agreed to anything!"

"Don't be stingy. I know that the rent's nothing compared to your daily allowance."

"Still..."

"You're awfully talkative for a chicken."

"C-Chicken?!"

Oops, I accidentally used a slur. Not that I cared, though.

"Aren't you basically a chicken that goes "caw caw" and shoots fire?"

Before Ria could explode in anger, I took the key from the innkeeper and went up to my room with Glacia.

.

.

.

As I placed Glacia down on the ground, she headed straight for the bed.

Shaking my head, I went and locked the door for security reasons. As I turned around, I found Glacia sitting on the bed, raising both her arms toward me while exclaiming,

"Wahhh! Hugs!"

I almost gave in to her cuteness and did it. However, I soon controlled myself and threw a blanket over her.

The annoyingly cute and energetic child was now covered in a layer of thick white.

I stared at the lump on the blanket for a few minutes before sighing.

'She should have stopped by now.'

And with that thought, I removed the blanket. However, I found that she was still in that stupid pose.

"Wahhh! Hugs!"

I threw it over her again, and then removed it.

"Wahhh! Hugs!"

And again.

"Wahhh! Hugs!"

Faster this time.

"Wahhh! Hu-"

Even faster now.

"Wah-"

Maximum speed!

"W—"

'What the fuck even is this?'